Green Christmas?

Ya know what really is starting to suck? There's no snow! This is Northern Minnesota.. there is supposed to be SNOW on the ground during Christmas time! Sheesh

'Older Posts"

I just happened to notice, if you look to the right BELOW this post or other posts.. there's a link that says 'Older posts' where you can click it and it brings you back one post. The new template etc has some good to it after all.. (definitely lots of randomness today/tonight.)

Tarvaris Jackson hopefully playing Thursday

Even though the game is on the NFL Network and a lot of us won't get to WATCH the game against the Packers.. Hopefully Tarvaris Jackson gets to start against them instead of Brad Johnson. Johnson is old and slow, while Jackson has speed and agility that Johnson's never had!

OK, Changes finished I think

I've decided to change the blog to where there's the last post made is the one you see. We'll see how it goes like this for a while and what kind of feedback or comments I get about it.

The college women's hockey blog, I'll keep the old way for now. It's easy to go back and see what you've missed.. just click on the left where it says Blog Archive and choose the month you want!

Working on changing some blog stuff

I'm editing some shit just to see how it looks etc.. trying to figure out how to put the GOOGLE ADSENSE ads after each post in the beta templates right now.

George Karl tells off Isiah Thomas

I missed this when it happened, but Fox News has a great article up about the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks brawl:

NEW YORK — Denver Nuggets coach George Karl used a mouthful of expletives to describe Isiah Thomas Monday after the NBA failed to penalize the New York Knicks coach for his part in the court brawl that erupted between the two teams.

Reacting to suspensions of three of his top players by the NBA league office, Karl referred to Thomas as being "... full of [expletive], he's a total [expletive] who should be held accountable for what his actions were."

The Nuggets allege Thomas called on one of his players to commit the flagrant foul which started the brawl at Madison Square Garden Saturday night.

NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games and six other players were penalized as NBA commissioner David Stern came down hard on both teams for the fighting.

Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith each got 10 games, and four other players also were suspended. Stern fined each organization $500,000. But there was no separate penalty for Thomas, who had warned Anthony not to go into the lane before the mayhem started.

It was the NBA's scariest scene since the brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans two years ago. The league is still recovering from that episode, and Stern made it clear the players must learn to control themselves.

"We're going to go after the players who aren't able to stop," he said during a conference call. "We have set up the goal of eliminating fighting from our game. We haven't eliminated it completely."

Anthony's suspension was the sixth longest in NBA history. Mardy Collins, whose hard foul on Smith sparked the fighting, was suspended six games and Knicks teammate Jared Jeffries will miss four. Also, the Knicks' Jerome James and Denver's Nene were both penalized one game for leaving the bench area during the chaos.

Ten players were ejected after the fight, which started with 1:15 left in Denver's 123-100 victory. The punishments were announced before both teams were to play Monday night — New York at home against Utah; Denver at home against Washington.

"I was very disappointed," Stern said. "Clearly, we're not getting through or players in certain circumstances just don't want to be restrained. I would suggest that those players will not have long careers in the NBA."

Stern was especially troubled by the fight between Robinson and Smith that spilled into the stands.

"My concern is actually for the safety of the players and the fans, and when things get out of hand you cannot predict or project where they're going to go," Stern said. "There were certain players who weren't going to allow themselves to be calmed."

There was speculation Thomas would be penalized for his comments to Anthony. Stern acknowledged hearing about it, but said he relied only on "definitive information" when handing out punishments.

But he was clearly annoyed by remarks from Thomas and the Knicks after the game that the problems were caused by the Nuggets still having four starters on the floor late in a blowout. And the fine showed he wants teams to be serious in helping him clean up the game.

"It's a more general message that I'm going to start holding our teams accountable," he said.

Collins prevented Smith from an easy basket by grabbing him by the neck and taking him to the floor. Smith rose and immediately started jawing with Collins, and Robinson jumped in to pull Smith away. Anthony shoved Robinson away, and Robinson and Smith then tumbled into the front row while fighting.

Just as things appeared to be calming down, Anthony threw a hard punch that floored Collins, and Jeffries sprinted from the baseline toward halfcourt in an effort to get at Anthony, but was tackled by a Denver player.

By the time security had finally contained Smith, they were nearly at the opposite end of the court from where the fighting started.

Before Stern talked, the Knicks held their morning shootaround, where Thomas didn't back away from the Knicks' postgame assertions that some of the problems were caused by Denver coach George Karl leaving his starters on the floor too long in a blowout.

"I can't speak for him, but he put his players in a tough position," Thomas said. "I think he put his players in a very bad position."

In Denver, Karl was irate with Thomas. Karl accused Thomas of a "premeditated" act, underscoring his disgust with the New York coach with expletives.

"It was directed by Isiah," he said during a shootaround. "I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad situation worse. I'll swear on my children's life that I never thought about running up the score. I wanted to get a big win on the road."

"My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games," he added. "I didn't want the score to get under 10 points because if it would've gotten under 10 points it would've had a negative feeling on my team."

Karl has bigger problems now. He'll be without Anthony until the Nuggets' game at Houston on Jan. 20, and Smith will be gone until Jan. 8. That duo combines for more than 48 points a game.

"It's going to be tough," said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, one of the five players ejected who wasn't suspended. "It's already tough being in the Western Conference, and missing guys like J.R. and Carmelo is going to make it even worse."

Anthony's conduct represents a big blow to the player, team and league. He starred as a captain on the U.S. team at the world championships this summer, and had been getting more marketing opportunities as one of the league's brightest young stars.

Stern took none of that into account when issuing his decision.

"We judged him on his actions on the court, period," Stern said. "And they deserved a harsh penalty."

FOX News' Denis King and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Somehow, I actually missed that this happened because I've had a busy week.

Superior 20 yr olds save man from drowning while ice fishing

Saturday's News Tribune had this great article about 2 Superior Wisconsin 20 yr olds saving a 65 yr old man from drowning:

Two Superior men stage risky rescue of fellow ice angler
Sam Cook Duluth News Tribune
Published Saturday, December 16, 2006
Aaron Mikulich and Norm Holt could hear the cries from out on the lake. The two men were heading out to go ice fishing on Crystal Lake near Iron River on Monday afternoon.

“Instantly, I knew what it was,” said Mikulich, who lives in Superior. “I looked over to where I’d seen a guy ice fishing earlier, and just saw his head sticking up. I heard, ‘Help! Help me!’ ”

The fisherman’s cries set in motion a daring thin-ice rescue by the two men, both 20. Mikulich and Holt were fishing for northern pike and crappies from the Mikulich family cabin on Crystal Lake. The rescue took place about 2 p.m., Mikulich said. Other than the victim, no other anglers were out.

The fisherman was Dennis Schumacher, 65, of Brule. An avid angler, Schumacher was out to fish for bluegills. He had drilled one hole and found 3½ inches of ice and another with 4 inches. But he wanted to be farther from shore and drilled another hole in 3 inches of ice.

“I heard some cracking, and I was down,” Schumacher said.

When Mikulich and Holt heard his cries, Holt grabbed an Otter plastic sled that he and Mikulich had been using and began running toward Schumacher. He was holding his arms across the ice to keep his head and shoulders out of the water. Mikulich ran for the cabin to get life jackets and a rope to throw Schumacher. All he could find were two dog leashes, which he clipped together to make a 25-foot length of line. As Mikulich went running back across the lake, he could see Holt running across the ice.

“Every step he was taking, I could see the ice, like, bouncing,” Mikulich said. “We cut back toward shore.”

Schumacher was about 70 yards from shore in about 15 feet of water, Mikulich said.

“We were worried,” he said. “The guy was screaming for help. Adrenaline took over. We knew what we had to do.”

Mikulich and Holt spread out on the ice and got as close as they dared — about 25 feet — to throw the line to Schumacher.

“The whole time this was going on, we could hear the ice creaking,” Mikulich said.

Both he and Holt weigh about170 pounds.

Meanwhile, Schumacher had other thoughts.

“All I was thinking of was, I haven’t filled out that damned living will,” Schumacher said.

Once Holt and Mikulich got close enough, they threw Schumacher the tethered dog leashes. Mikulich wrapped one end around his wrist to get a secure grip. Then they began pulling.

“We kept slipping,” Mikulich said. “There was no snow on the ice. I don’t know how, but somehow we caught an edge.”

They pulled Schumacher part way out of the hole, but the ice kept breaking under his weight. That happened two or three times, Schumacher said. Finally, the young men were able to get Schumacher out of the water and onto the ice, where he rolled onto his back. The two young men kept pulling and brought him nearer shore to safe ice.

Schumacher and his rescuers estimated he had been in the water for about 10 minutes. Schumacher was able to walk under his own power. Holt ran up the hill to start the man’s vehicle for him.

“He asked our names,” Mikulich recalled, “and said, ‘You just saved an old man’s life.’ ”

Schumacher went to a friend’s home nearby to warm up, then returned to thank Mikulich and Holt again. He said he never was extremely cold, although his chest felt “tingly” when he was in the water. Schumacher said he usually carries ice pegs — dowels with sharp points protruding — for just such a situation. But he couldn’t find them that day.

“This time I just wasn’t prepared,” he said.

Mikulich and Holt don’t consider themselves heroes. They simply reacted.

“You see someone fall in, what else are you going to do?” Holt said.

“I would hope anybody would do the same thing for me without thinking about it,” Mikulich said.

I had to post this great story on my blog

Saturday was a long day

Saturday was the one LONG road trip of the year as a 7th/8th grade basketball coach. It was a 3 hour bus ride up the north shore for the 7th and 8th grade games, then 3 hour ride back. It's not *THAT* bad a trip except that I have a 20 minute drive to GET to the school and the bus left at 7 am. That means.. getting up at just before 6 am. That may not seem early to some people, but normally I get up around 10 am ;)

Grandma's Marathon Winner Disqualified for Steroids

This article below is in today's Duluth News Tribune Why the hell would someone even show up TO race if they knew there were drug tests they would fail?

Grandma’s winner disqualified
Kevin Pates Duluth News Tribune
Published Friday, December 15, 2006

Halina Karnatsevich of Belarus was officially disqualified as the women’s champion of the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon on Thursday. USA Track and Field confirmed that she tested positive for the prohibited substance Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.

Karnatsevich, 37, who also won the 2005 Grandma’s Marathon title, has forfeited her $8,000 in prize money from the June 17 race. Runner-up Svetlana Nekhorosh, 32, of Ukraine has been named the winner.

It was the first positive test for Grandma’s Marathon, which has included drug testing four times in 30 years.

In accordance with International Association of Athletics Federation policy, the Belarus Athletic Federation has banned Karnatsevich from competition for two years, until July 21, 2008. She is Belarus’ top-ranked female marathoner.

Ten athletes from the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon, including the top three men and women, were tested in Duluth immediately after the race by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of Colorado Springs, Colo. USA Track and Field randomly selects American road races to be drug tested annually. Grandma’s Marathon was last tested in 1994.

“I say, ‘Let’s catch the cheats.’ We want a clean sport. We want a level playing field for everyone,’’ Grandma’s Marathon executive director Scott Keenan said.

The outcome was announced by the Belarus Athletic Federation in October, when USA Track and Field reported a non-negative result in testing one of Karnatsevich’s two drug samples. Yet the official results, after tests from a second drug sample were completed, weren’t released until Thursday, nearly six months after the race.

“Our sport has cheating going on, but most races don’t have the resources to have their own drug testing,’’ said Katie Koski, 33, of Two Harbors, who has run Grandma’s Marathon eight times and was 19th in this year’s women’s race. “If you’re lucky and play your cards right, you can make a lot of money before you’re caught.

“I’m sure there are Americans who cheat, but I think it’s more likely to be Eastern European runners, who aren’t tested by their governing associations. They can come here and run in some smaller races and make a living.’’

The last 10 women’s winners at Grandma’s Marathon have come from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova or Kyrgyzstan.

Duluthian Jarrow Wahman, 45, who has raced for 30 years and run in 13 Grandma’s Marathons, said he isn’t surprised by the disqualification.

“If there’s money to be made, some runners will take the risk,’’ Wahman said. “To win $8,000 means so much more to someone from a country in Eastern Europe or Africa.’’

The lengthy testing process delayed payment to this year’s race prize-money winners and didn’t allow the Grandma’s Marathon race results booklet to have the official women’s winner listed.

“We’re interested in more dialogue to get increased testing in American road racing. We want to cooperate,’’ said Keenan, who has been with Grandma’s Marathon since its inception in 1977. “And when there is testing, we would like to get the results in a more timely manner.’’

Grandma’s Marathon asked to be tested this year, and Keenan said he already has put in a request with USA Track and Field for the testing in 2007.

Karnatsevich won the 2005 Grandma’s Marathon in2 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds, the second-fastest women’s time in race history, and won in June in 2:33:39, beating Nekhorosh by nearly four minutes.

Grandma’s Marathon officials have mailed Nekhorosh the additional $1,500 she earned by placing first. On Dec. 3, in the Macau International Marathon, Nekhorosh was third in 2:41:46.

Karnatsevich lives in Grodno, in northwest Belarus, and is married with a 5-year-old son. She has been running professionally for about 10 years and has a marathon best of 2:27:14.

“She is a treasure in Belarus. She is a star,’’ Grandma’s Marathon entrant Dzmitry Sivou of Belarus said of Karnatsevich in June.

I don't think she's a treasure anymore in her own country.....

Cloquet hockey boys beat East 2-1!

In a game that they mostly dominate, CEC (Cloquet Esko Carlton) beat Duluth East 2-1 at the DECC. It's about time a team I WANTED to win, won AT the DECC. The UMD Men have been miserable there, and it was great as always, to beat East.

One thing I think all of us are trying to figure out, is, at the end of the game there was a large scrum in front of the Duluth East bench which drew some major penalties and a couple minor penalties for roughing, etc. Tyler Johnson was checked to the ice and 2 players held him to the ground and were cross checking him to the ground when the fight/scrum broke out and there were penalties all over the place. Somehow, Duluth East got a powerplay out of it, with 30 seconds left in the game. In the end, it didn't matter, but trying to figure out where the extra Cloquet penalty came from would probably take a magician.

Oh well :) CEC Wins 2-1 is all that really matters.

Boring couplaweeks

This last week and half or two has been really boring with not that much stuff to post about. The weather warmed up and now the snow is basically gone aside from the larger snow banks that were plowed up. Hopefully something interesting happens with the holiday coming, that I'll have more to randomly post about :)

YUM! Roasted Chicken for dinner

Although I didn't take pictures of it... YUM.. roasted chicken breast with red skin potatoes for dinner.. mmmmmm

Took a bunch of potatoes and cut them in quarters (they weren't the little baby sized) and stirred them with a little olive oil and oregano then put 6 split chicken breasts (nice large size) on top around the pan and put Lowry's seasoned salt (Lowry's what else is there really) on top of it all and some paprika.

Roasted with the lid ON at 425 for 40 minutes then for 15 minutes WITHOUT the lid on to crisp up the skin of the chicken breasts. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM and of course we eat it with some canned corn also (Green Giant Niblets..)

damn that was good! ;)

Bring Allen Iverson to the T'Wolves!

In a story published in the Duluth News Tribune, Kevin Garnett mentioned he wants Allen Iverson in Minnesota. Iverson wants out of Philadelphia so this would be perfect for him. Garnett needs someone who can score to help him.

Obviously this would be great! The article from the paper follows, and I make no claim to it myself of course:

By Jerry Zgoda and Kent YoungbloodMcClatchy Newspapers, Duluth News Tribune
Published Sunday, December 10, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS — The notion of a trade for Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson played well in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ locker room before and after their NBA game Friday night against Utah.

Wolves forward Kevin Garnett was sitting next to his locker after the game when he was told of the latest Iverson developments.

“Where’s Kevin at?” he said, feigning a sudden move out of his chair to search for Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale.

His actions, suggesting he was ready to make a deal, were in jest. His words were not.

“Shoot, bring it on,” he said about the possibility of Iverson playing for the Timberwolves. “I love ‘The Answer.’ Come on, boy. There’s not anybody in here who would not want to play with him.”

Earlier in the day, Garnett said, “He’s not only a personal friend, but he’s a warrior and a soldier that I’ve always looked up to since he came into the league.”

Garnett entered the NBA in 1995 directly out of high school. Iverson arrived the next season after two years at Georgetown.

“I’ve been in the league longer than him, but we’re like brothers,” Garnett said. “He’s like my big brother.”

Veteran guard Mike James, who has been traded twice and signed and waived almost too many times to count, welcomed the possibility as well, even though he knows he, along with rookie Randy Foye, likely could be part of any deal the Wolves might strike.

“What he’s capable of doing with the basketball in his hands, man,” James said. “If he comes, I don’t know who Philly is going to get, but Philly’s going to get a lot. If I’m playing in Philadelphia, well, business is never personal.”

The Wolves haven't had someone like Iverson at point guard since Stephon Marbury went away.

Minnesota Winter Sports Stink so far

The WILD have played bad of late, the Timberwolves aren't good at all, and the Vikings, are .. to be nice.. TERRIBLE. The Gopher football and basketball teams are as bad as the Vikings.. (I won't mention their hockey because that's the Gopher sport I will not watch!) FORMER(now) Gopher basketball coach Dan Munson finally resigned so maybe that will improve some stuff. Glenn Mason should resign next so the football program can move on as well.

Mom has son arrested for opening presents early???

According to a Fox News story, a mother had her 12 yr old son arrested for opening a christmas present early.... what the hell?

The story starts:

After a mother discovered her son had unwrapped a Nintendo Game Boy Advance that was meant for him as a present from his grandmother, she called the Rock Hill Police and had the young man arrested for petty larceny, according to the police report filed this week.

Read the rest by clicking on the blog title, or the link above

Speaking of the VIKINGS Sucking

Today's Jim Souhan article on the Vikings demise in the News Tribune, from the Star Tribune:

NFL coaches and quarterbacks, we hear, receive too much credit after victories and too much blame after losses.

Baloney. As the Vikings’ season froze like a tongue to a flagpole on Sunday at frigid Soldier Field, the culprits were the Bear Market Brads.

Because Brad Johnson threw away the biggest game of the year, Brad Childress is facing the most important decision of his career.

Johnson tossed four interceptions in the Vikings’ 23-13 loss to Chicago, leaving Childress with no choice but to send in Brooks Bollinger.

That doesn’t take Childress off the hook.

Johnson’s mistakes lost this game. Childress’ mistakes might have ruined his first season.

The rookie coach so believed in the user-friendliness of his offense that he started his first season with a 38-year-old quarterback and no reputable backups.

He so believed in his ability to mentor quarterbacks that he chose the raw Tarvaris Jackson in the second round.

This week, Childress will pick between the flailing Johnson, the ailing Bollinger (who injured his left shoulder) and the unveiling of Jackson.

The Chiller had better choose wisely, or he’ll turn an already-seething locker room into the set of “Mutiny on the Bounty.”

After the game, defensive players laughed over the absurdity of holding Bears “quarterback” Rex Grossman to a 1.3 passer rating and still losing.

How bad was Grossman? If Johnson had changed sidelines, he would have improved both teams.

Viking defenders weren’t the only ones fuming. Those responsible for the running game wondered how they rushed 35 times for 192 yards and a touchdown against one of the NFL’s best defenses yet managed only 13 points.

Maybe it was attempting zero passes into the end zone, abiding by Childress’ philosophy that you take what the defense gives you, even if the defense gives you nothing more desirable than Enron stock.

“It wasn’t like we weren’t moving the ball,” center Matt Birk said. “We were gashing them. It wasn’t like they were playing Cover-2, either. They had an extra guy in the box every time, and we gashed them.

“They made more big plays than we did. That’s why, even though we felt like we outplayed them, they won.” Childress did more than the Bears to slow the Vikings offense in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings got the ball with 12:14 remaining, needing two touchdowns, two extra points and a field goal just to send the game into overtime, and yet Childress didn’t call for a time-saving, no-huddle offense.

Bollinger led the Vikings to a touchdown, but just 5:40 remained when Ciatrick Fason scored.

Childress then called for an onside kick. That’s a coaching non sequitur. If you deem an onside kick necessary, you are past the point where you should have been running a no-huddle offense.

Now Childress must fix his no-offense huddle, and he faces a coach’s toughest decision — whether to change quarterbacks when the playoffs are a mathematical possibility.

His options: Johnson, who’s playing like a victim of identity theft; Bollinger, who’s hurt; and Jackson, who sounds worried he might be asked to start.

Choose Johnson, and the defense might revolt. Choose Bollinger, and you’d better Mapquest directions to the emergency room. Choose Jackson, and you’re telling a veteran team with a strong defense and running game to wait ‘til next year.

The pick here: Bollinger if he can lift his arm, Jackson if he can’t.

The longer the season lasts, the worse the Vikings play. Blame this loss on Johnson, but it’s the other Bear Market Brad who has guided his team into this nasty recession.

Jim Souhan is a national sports columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Souhan's great.. and writes a lot of Minnesota Twins articles during that season, and appears on the Twins FSN broadcasts a lot.

The VIKINGS SUCK

The Vikings lost again yesterday, to Chicago. The Vikings actually ended up finally giving Tarvaris Jackson about 1 minute of playing time in the final 2 minutes of the game.. Brooks Bollinger didn't do anything before he got hurt getting tackled onto the concrete like frozen turf in his Vikings debut as a reliever.

Rex Grossman threw as many Interceptions as Brad Johnson did but his team managed to actually win...

The only Chicago sports team I like is Da Bulls.. used to be a Cubs fan.. but they've been depressing as hell over the last 5 years or so again

eBay Consignment Business can be weird

One of my consignment customers.... isn't that bright.. I was listing a bracelet for her.. and it sold.. so I call her to go pick it up and ship it. I get there and she hands me a different bracelet because she thought that one was sold and she had **PAWNED** the other one.. wtf!?!?!?

I had to email an apology to the person on eBay who won it..and emailed them a refund of payment. Well, the next morning (Saturday) they paid for it AGAIN.. so I re-did the refund again..and.. they paid for it AGAIN.. and I did the refund *again*... so far so good now.. 24 hours and not a 4th payment. Don't people read their email?

Ok, just in case you want to see what I'm selling.. click the title of the blog.

Damn it's COLD

It is officially .. colder than a witches tit outside! The windchill factor is 0!



BRRRRR

Bulldogs win!

Holy Crap.. the UMD BULLDOGS Men's team actually won a game.. beating Alaska Anchorage 7-3 up in Alaska...